Hong Kong heads to Beijing: 287 delegates arrive for China's military parade marking 70th anniversary of second world war surrender

A Hong Kong delegation led by Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying flew to Beijing on Wednesday for the military parade marking the 70th anniversary of Japan's surrender in the second world war.

Tycoons, academics, pan-democrats, anti-Occupy activists and media representatives were among the diverse range of Hongkongers on the guest list.

Among the 287-strong Hong Kong delegation were Richard Li Tzar-kai, son of the city's richest man Li Ka-shing, Sun Hung Kai Properties chairman Raymond Kwok Ping-luen, Lau Ming-wai, chairman of Chinese Estates Holdings, and Sino Group executive director Daryl Ng Win-kong.

Li Ka-shing and Henderson Land Development patriarch Lee Shau-kee, who did not attend a similar parade in 2009 for the 60th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic, were not on the list for the delegation. It is understood Lee was invited.

Pro-establishment figures who led efforts opposing the Occupy movement last year were invited, including former radio host Robert Chow Yung and Maggie Chan Man-ki, the solicitor who helped obtain an injunction to clear the protest sites.

Former police commissioner Andy Tsang Wai-hung, who adopted a tough stance on Occupy, and assistant commissioner Cheung Tak-keung, who was in charge of the Occupy operation were also invited.